Winter means anglers can see a rainbow (trout)

Updated 10:06 pm, Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Anglers targeting stocked rainbow trout in the Guadalupe River below Canyon Lake will have four new public access points thanks to lease agreements between streamside landowners and TPWD.

Anglers targeting stocked rainbow trout in the Guadalupe River below Canyon Lake will have four new public access points thanks to lease agreements between streamside landowners and TPWD.

Photo: San Antonio Express-News, STAFF

Winter means anglers can see a rainbow (trout)

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Crews from Texas' five freshwater fish hatcheries will be piscatorial versions of Santa's elves over coming weeks, loading, hauling and distributing about 300,000 brightly packaged presents to anticipating anglers at more than 150 locations across the state as part of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's annual wintertime stocking of rainbow trout.

And the state's freshwater trout anglers will get an extra present this year as four new public-access areas open along the section of Guadalupe River holding the state's premier cool-season trout fishery.

The first loads of hatchery-produced rainbows were released into a handful of urban and suburban waters - mostly ponds in city or county parks - just ahead of Thanksgiving, with regular stockings scheduled into waters across the state though early March.

An annual project

The trout stockings and the popular put-and-take fisheries they create have been an annual project for more than 40 years, growing from a handful of stocking sites in the 1970s to well over 100 in recent years.

"We'll be stocking trout in 155 locations this year, all over the state," said Carl Kittel, who coordinates the trout stocking for TPWD's inland fisheries division's hatchery branch. Some of those stockings will be in ponds and streams in state parks, and others in public waterways such as the Blanco and Guadalupe rivers. But most will be into smallish ponds in parks and other public areas in and around the state's metropolitan centers, including 25 sites in and around Houston. A list of waters to be stocked, stocking schedule and directions to the location of the pond or park is available on TPWD's website at www.tpwd.texas.gov/troutstocking

Almost all of the stocking sites are chosen for their accessibility and location in or very near the state's largest cities, a nod to the program's focus on creating easy-to-get-to fishing opportunities for urban and suburban Texans. And that program has been very successful at connecting a wide range of anglers with tasty, feisty and usually cooperative rainbow trout.

"It's a very popular program," Kittel said. "We get a lot of positive feedback from anglers. "

Winter is the only time of year such a statewide trout stocking project can be successful in Texas. Rainbows, like all freshwater trout, are a cold-water species, evolved to live in streams fed by snow melt or other chilly water sources. The only time they can survive in Texas waters is during the state's chilliest months.

Rainbows need water to be below 70 degrees to survive. They can live a short while - a week or two - in 72 degree water, and they are doomed when water temperatures climb to 74 degrees or higher, Kittel said. That limits releasing the hatchery-produced trout to the stretch from late November through mid-March, Kittel said. And even late November can be dicey, especially in an autumn as mild as the one most of Texas has seen this year.

"We were right on the edge with these first stockings," Kittel said. "But we're getting cooler weather, now, so that will help."

The trout stocking program is almost wholly funded using a portion of the money generated through sale of the $5 Freshwater Fishing Endorsement Texas required of all Texas anglers who fish in public freshwater and fall under general fishing license requirements. In some cases, cities, counties and other local governments partners with TPWD to pay for purchase of the trout from the private hatcheries that produce them.

The investment pays off for anglers who target the fish.

"Rainbows are really good candidates for these fisheries," Kittel said. "They can be caught on a variety of tackle, from cane poles to spinning gear and fly-fishing. They'll hit a lot of different kinds of baits. They're a great fish for young anglers because they are pretty easy to catch."

Texas' general fishing regulations limit anglers to taking no more than five freshwater trout per day, with no minimum length requirement. Standard fishing license requirements apply to most public waters, but anglers fishing for stocked trout in the several state park ponds that will receive rainbows enjoy the fishing license exemption that applies year-round to all persons fishing waters wholly inside state park boundaries.

The majority of stockings are scheduled for Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, with the aim of releasing the fish ahead of weekends, when most anglers have the time to fish.

Modest sized trout

Most of the trout stocked during the wintertime program are of modest size. In the 18 urban waters designated by TPWD as Neighborhood Fishin' lakes, TPWD stocks trout averaging about 11 inches, Kittel said. Those waters, which include Mary Jo Peckham Park in Katy and Community Park lake in Missouri City, are scheduled to be stocked with a load of trout every two weeks through early March.

Rainbows stocked into the scores of other public waters across the state are 8-10 inches, with most averaging 9 inches, Kittel said.

Anglers looking for the potential to connect with larger trout invariably target the 10-mile stretch of Guadalupe River immediately downstream from Canyon Lake. That reach of river, fed by unusually cold water released from the bottom of Canyon Lake, creates the best "natural" trout fishery in Texas; it's the only piece of water in Texas (outside a small stream in the Guadalupe Mountains) where trout can survive year-round. Regular, liberal stocking of trout by TPWD along with stockings of rainbow and brown trout (including some trout measuring 20 inches or more) by the Guadalupe River Chapter of Trout Unlimited mean the Guadalupe is Texas' premier freshwater trout fishery. It's the southernmost trout stream in the United States and ranked among the Top 100 trout fisheries in the nation.

This winter, anglers will see significant improvement in access to the Guadalupe River's trout fishery, both for those who want to wade-fish the river and those wanting to float-fish the stretch downstream from the Canyon Lake tailrace.

As part of a program to improve public access to Texas rivers, TPWD and four private landowners along the trout-rich section of the Guadalupe River signed temporary lease agreements, giving no-charge public access privileges at four locations during the heart of the winter trout fishing season.

Public fishing access will be available at Rio Guadalupe Resort (formerly Rio Raft and Resort) and Whitewater Sports beginning Friday and continuing through May 2, 2017, Mountain Breeze Campground Friday through April 16 and at Camp Huaco Springs from Friday through March 12 except the weekend of Feb. 25-26 when Camp Huaco Springs will be closed for a special event.

The leases provide anglers with free access to the Guadalupe River from 30 minutes before daylight until 30 minutes after dusk.

Anglers may use the properties for bank fishing, wade-fishing access and to launch non-motorized watercraft (rafts, kayaks and canoes) for the purpose of fishing.

TTPWD's River Access and Conservation areas program has lease agreements for public access sites with landowners on eight Texas rivers.